IT'S OVER/THE END:

KILLING JOKE "ASTEROID"

purchase Killing Joke "Killing Joke" 

“The worst is not. So long as we can say, ‘This is the worst’”, said Edgar, who along with Kent was the most noble and optimistic of the characters in King Lear.

Spare his plethora of Mad King Ludwig gold-rimmed chairs and gaudy baroque paintings, there is nothing that is outwardly noble and nothing to suggest that there is anything inwardly noble about Trump. Obviously, there is a whole lot of bad. With the victory evening itself and the Bannon and Sessions announcements, the last week has been frightening. But can it get worse? Let’s hope this is the end of the worst and the guy’s damage is frozen like a daiquiri.

But for the nihilists and those comforted by oncoming apocalypses, we have Killing Joke’s, “Asteroid.”

I’m a ball of fire

Fire from heaven

Terror from nowhere

You’ll never shoot me down

Days turn to minutes

Five seconds till it hits

Three seconds to ground

One second to

Asteroid!

Coming in from the void

Vocalist Jaz Coleman, guitarist Geordie Walker and bassist Raven (and Youth shortly afterward) gave birth to Killing Joke in a smoking crater of apocalyptic theory and even though the majority of its fan base probably dismisses Coleman’s beliefs as dark humor, they’ll go along for the ride because Coleman’s soothsaying brings a healthy stream of boiling blood to Killing Joke’s music.

“Asteroid” is a stunning tune, the bonfire exploding early with Coleman’s screams (“And a 3^rd Angel  sounded! And a star fell from heaven!”), punctuated by sonic drum smashes. Apparently--contrary to typical recording methods--the drums were recorded last on the album according to Dave Grohl who guested on drums on this self-titled release, Killing Joke’s 11^th in their 23^rd year. Killing Joke recently released Pylon, another massive slab of epic alternative-rock that belies their age and shows no sign of the band hitting any creative funk. They’re one of a few bands I am still holding out hope to see live, despite living in Turkey.

Coleman actually moved to Iceland early in the band’s career to avoid the apocalypse, moving back shortly afterward without a peep, not even ‘whoops, wrong day’. Plenty of superstars in the U.S. have plans of hightailing themselves out of America during the ensuing four-year apocalypse. Most will make their way back before the end without a peep.

It's Over/The End: Boz Scaggs- It's Over

purchase [Silk Degrees]

I was going to write about The Who's <The Song is Over>. I blocked out the song so that other SMM bloggers didn't nab my choice before I could get to it. But it's been busy days since the theme came online and my Who post is still in draft stage. Furthermore, I note that I checked in with the Who just one post back, so that is probably enough of them for now.

Among the busy-ness of the past week has been rehearsals for my once-a-semester student/teacher music concert, where, for the 20th time in a row, I am doing my thing. My "thing" this time is Boz Scaggs' Loan Me a Dime. (Sorry if you think that SMM shouldn't flog the bloggers - but it just fits so well)

Wait a minute ... Boz *must* have something that relates to Over/End. Of course he does: it's called "It's Over", from Silk Degrees.Way back before I gave all my albums away because they were taking up too much space and the turntable had fallen into dis-repair, I had a vinyl copy of Silk Degrees. You know: Silk Degrees with ... well ... lots of quite decent songs. Like all those others that you know but never really hit the big time. Boz mostly/consistently seems to come in at around number  30-50 on the hit chart: pretty fine, if not big hits and Silk Degrees has several.

Way back in the 60s, Boz was a part of the Steve Miller Band: he did various vocals as well as some guitar work - off and on from '59 to '68.  It was in '69 that he made it to  Muscle Shoals, where he recorded Loan Me a Dime with Duane Allman doing the solo guitar.

Silk Degrees was his 7th(!?) album - in 1976. That's a while back, but he is still making music? In fact, he has been in and out of the music scene more or less since Silk Degrees. He's playing the West Coast in November and then the midWest and Florida in January & February, so you've got a chance to catch him there.